Drunken pilots delay flight originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Give dad a custom vacation from Kensington Tours this year originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

National Geographic

National Geographic announces 2010 class of Emerging Explorers originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 19 May 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Trade Mocked

Trade Mocked originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Okay, so the Congolese capital is probably not going to become the world's next fashion hotspot, but a new photo book called Gentlemen of Bacongo portrays a group of foppish Congolese men known as sapeurs who have been donning the hippest European duds for decades-- right in the heart of the Congo.

Daniele Tamagni, who wrote and took photographs for the book, says that the sapeurs are celebrities in their home country, and are often asked to appear at weddings and funerals. Says the New York Times' fashion blog:

[W]hile these men look fabulously natty and handsome with their pressed pocket squares and trim-fitting navy blazers, what makes these images so compelling is the way they stand out among such scenes of abject poverty - they pose in their Sunday best in weed-filled lots and peacock through the streets crowded with trash and half-dressed children.

Incidentally, this is somewhat reminiscent of a scene from Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, which also took place (mostly) in Sub-Saharan Africa. The chief accountant in the book, a white man who had been in the Belgian Congo for several years, insisted on keeping his clothing looking neat despite all the chaos and death surrounding him. The narrator recounts the main character Marlow's feelings about the accountant:

"I respected the fellow. Yes; I respected his collars, his vast cuffs, his brushed hair... [I]n the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That's backbone."

Check out the entire NYT review here, and a "dandy" photo gallery from Jezebel (to whom I happily defer on all things fashion) here.

The best-dressed men in Sub-Saharan Africa originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've ever seen a lava flow, you know that once the stuff cools and hardens, it's hard to move. In the Congo, this has created a big problem at the airport in Goma. Back in 2002, when the Nyiragongo Volcano erupted, lava flowed onto the runway, thus shortening it. A shorter runway does not sound good. It's not.

Today, this was proved true once more when an airplane flying from Kinshasa to Goma overshot the runway and landed on the lava instead. Ouch! According to the report, 20 people out of the 117 on board were injured.

This is not the first time that lava has created issues at the Goma airport. The last time was in 2007 when a cargo plane caught on fire after it hit the lava. This incidence caused 7 deaths.

As unusual as it is to hit lava on a runway, it's probably more unusual for a plane to hit a bush pig. The plane hits a bush pig incident happened a week ago on in Zimbabwe. When this pig made it's last oink, high drama ensued which included a couple of injuries that were caused when passengers fell into a ditch at the side of the runway.

As for the lava on the runway woes, hopefully this latest incident in Goma will help provide incentive to remove the rest of it.

When it comes to bush pigs on runways, pilots in Zimbabwe--and I guess elsewhere where bush pigs roam--are probably keeping their eyes on the lookout.

The photo taken by Julien Harneis from a helicopter shows the lava flow around Goma.

Another plane mishap in Africa. This time lava is the problem originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kayaking the Congo River originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm not sure if everybody wants to live in Norway, but it's certainly at the top of the global list. The United Nations Development Program determined this based on data GDP, education and life expectancy - among other metrics - to find the best of the best, as well as the other end of the spectrum. The data's from 2007, though, so it doesn't reflect a post-financial crisis world.

Joining Norway are Australia and Iceland, the latter of which was a hot location until a year ago, when the entire country got an International Monetary Fund package normally reserved for the third-est of third-world countries. Yet, even with the recession in mind, Iceland (a favorite destination of mine) is still far better than Niger, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, which sit at the bottom of the list. Several other sub-Saharan African states also ranked toward the bottom because of ongoing war and the proliferation of HIV/AIDS.

The spread is most evident in life expectancy, where a mailing address in Norway would add 30 years relative to Niger. In Niger, the current average life expectancy is 50. And, for every dollar that someone earns in Niger, the same person would pick up $85 in Norway. In Afghanistan, one can expect to live only 43.6 years.

Money matters, still. Lichtenstein continues to boast the world's highest GDP per capital at $85,383. The 35,000 people who live there share the small principality with 15 banks and more than 100 wealth management companies. The Democratic Republic of Congo has the lowest income in the world: $298 per person per year.

The top climbers on the list for 2007 were China, Iran and Nepal.

Norway world's best place to live originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

How is that for a positive plane crash headline for you? You always hear about "no survivors," but all plane crashes clearly don't have to be fatal. Not for everyone, at least.

BBC reports that at least nine people were killed today when an airliner ploughed into a commercial area during take-off in Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It appears the plane skidded in wet weather, smashing through a wall and catching fire. Most of the 85 people aboard survived.

According to Reuters, Congo has one of the world's poorest air safety records with eight crashes in 2007. In October 2007, for example, a plane crashed into a residential area in Goma, killing all 27 people on board. Third of the runway at Goma's airport was apparently affected by a lava flow from a volcanic eruption that occurred there six years ago. This makes Goma a particularly difficult spot for take-off.

Most survive (yet another) Congo plane crash originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There is something terribly crazy about totalitarian governments and their sense of architecture: monumental, gaudy, pompous, and, more often than not, in extraordinarily poor taste.

That's whey the fine folks over at Esquire Magazine have compiled a list of what they feel are the world's most "colossal monument[s] to narcissism."

The Seven Wonders of the Totalitarian World, as you might imagine, is a rather bizarre assortment of architectural toy things by those drunk with power and devoid of taste. I can't say I agree with all of them--there are certainly others that should make the list such as Kim Il Sung's massive bronze statue in Pyongyang (above). But the ones that are included are still worth checking out nonetheless. And remember, when dictators fall, as Esquire points out, their statues soon follow--so be sure to visit soon.

Fist Crushing U.S. Fighter Plane, Libya
Monument to President Laurent Kabila, Congo
Lenin's Mausoleum, Russia
Monument to President Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan
Mao Leading the Chinese People's Liberation Army, China
The Hands of Victory, Iraq
Monument to the Founding of the North Korean Worker's Party, North Korea

Seven (screwed up) wonders of the totalitarian world originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here at Gadling, we usually profile places people WANT to go. However, sometimes it's useful to mention places to avoid. Consequently, here's an interesting (and not altogether surprising) list of the 2007's 12 Most Dangerous Destinations:

• Somalia
• Iraq
• Afghanistan
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Pakistan
• Burundi
• Sri Lanka
• Haiti
• Chad
• Lebanon
• Liberia

Of course, you probably don't think of these places as vacation destinations, unless you're a whacked-out Robert Young Pelton. However, employees of governments, oil and mining industries, and telecom industries are increasingly being dispatched to these locations. If you work for one of those groups, be certain to ask about insurance, hazard pay -- and a bodyguard.

Interestingly, the piece argues that the world is NOT getting more dangerous right now. Rather, globalization and the attendant "shrinking" of the planet is largely responsible for making the world APPEAR more dangerous now than before. Whether or not you agree with that assertion, the article is interesting, and the gallery is frightening.

The World's Most Dangerous Destinations for 2007 originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mark is a guy form the UK who decided to take a 16-month break and travel the world. One of his stops included a visit with these threatened, majestic creatures. Traveling with a local guide, Mark encountered a mountain gorilla family: a Silverback, 2 females, 2 infants, and 2 younger males. Here's what he saw:

Hiking and Hacking Through the Jungle to See Congolese Gorillas originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Word for the Travel Wise (11/13/06) originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 13 Nov 2006 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Word for the Travel Wise (06/25/06) originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 25 Jun 2006 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's a very sad world indeed when one is confronted with a sense of urgency when merely wanting to view wild animals in their native habitat.  But, if you don't move quickly, you may just lose that opportunity with the bonobo chimpanzee. 

Only about 5,000 bonobo remain in the rainforests of Congo.  This is due to a rather unfortunate fact: they're good eatin'.  The meat from a bonobo can fetch up to $200 from local restaurateurs, a rather hefty amount in this poor nation.  As a result, hunters have taken to the forests with guns and bottles of alcohol.  It seems the apes have an affinity for beer and once drunk, are easily caught as the alcohol dulls their brachiating abilities.

While getting apes drunk and eating them is a tragedy in anyone's book, it seems far worse in the case of the bonobo because of their reputation as the "hippie chimpanzee."  They've earned this moniker through their embrasure of free love.  When rival groups meet each other in the forests, they do so with "genital handshakes" and massages.  If an argument results-which is hard to believe after such a greeting-it usually ends with a French kiss and a quickie in the forest.  Afterwards they share a joint.  Okay, just kidding about the last part, but you can understand how the tragedy of killing such creatures is made even worse by the caring and peaceful lifestyle they embrace.

Efforts to save the gentle beasts have resulted in the Bonobo Paradise Sanctuary in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa where workers rescue the animals from the menus of underground restaurants around the city.  This is your best bet to spot the endangered chimpanzees, unless, of course, you head out to the forest with a couple bottles of Heineken. 

Hippie Chimpanzees: Get Drunk and Eat originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 08 Mar 2006 09:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Word for the Travel Wise (02/19/06) originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 19 Feb 2006 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Africa Travel: Angola originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 02 Feb 2006 23:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

International Optimism originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 24 Jan 2006 18:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jeffrey Taylor on Worldhum originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 12 Jan 2006 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One for the Road (01/10/06) originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 10 Jan 2006 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.